On a November day in 1946, Neeley McPherson turned five … and accidentally killed her parents. Thrown into the care of her scheming and alcoholic grandfather, she survives by her quick wit, and the watchful eye of an elderly black man, Gideon. In 1959, as equal rights heats up the South, authorities accuse Gideon of stealing a watch and using a Whites Only restroom. Neeley, now thirteen, determines to break him out of jail.

When the infamous Catfish Cole, Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon of the Carolinas, discovers their courageous escape, he pursues Neeley and Gideon into the frozen Blue Ridge Mountains to a wolf sanctuary. There Neeley crosses the bridge between the real and the supernatural. But will Neeley’s actions lead to tragedy again? Or will she finally realize the desire of her heart?

Set during a volatile time in America, The Sanctum bestows sanctuary and invokes the power of second chances.

Did anything inspire this novel?

Late in 2008, and for the next two years, I labored over a new story to give myself a break from the heat and intensity of Televenge. Little did I know of the fierce obsession and passion that would overtake me in writing The Sanctum. Wanting to include the possibility of the paranormal and spirituality from different points of view, I focused on a young girl with fuzzy, red hair who called herself Neeley, and the story began.

This skinny, parentless thirteen-year-old who wore thick eyeglasses and hand-me-down dresses captivated me from page one. Placing my little redheaded girl on a tobacco farm in 1959, and in the caring hands of an elderly African-American male, a rugged individual who wasn’t afraid of his gentle side, I quickly fell in love with them. The novel slowly wrote itself, dragging my heart behind it.

Many of my stories are based on people I’ve known and places I’ve been. History also plays a great part in my work. As a writer it is my desire to transport a reader’s mind—but my ultimate joy is to pierce your heart. When I was a little girl someone in my family taught me respect for all people. He said we were related to the great Martin Luther King since after all, my maiden name is King. I soon realized it wasn’t true, but I never forgot what he said. Later, I discovered blatant prejudice had incubated for decades within my family. My southern grandparents believed wholeheartedly in segregation.

For over a decade I lived near Summerfield, North Carolina, located northwest of Greensboro. This area is historically saturated with horse and tobacco farms, which today still dot the landscape. By chance I discovered James W. Cole (1924-1967) was ordained into the ministry in Summerfield at the Wayside Baptist Church in 1958. He toured as a tent evangelist and broadcast a Sunday morning radio program, becoming an active member of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and eventually the Grand Dragon of North and South Carolina. The man intrigued and appalled me, and since the first part of the book takes place in Summerfield during that time period, I wrote him into the story.

The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is located in the recently restored Woolworth’s building in downtown Greensboro, a Woolworth’s that also found its way into my story. As I further studied the Civil Rights Movement, I thought of it in terms of rights for all people. My great grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee, according to our family’s historian. So I then researched the Trail of Tears.

And finally the wolf appeared. An animal that has fascinated me all my life, the wolf is about family and order. It is a subtle character, but a voice to be reckoned with. I studied wolves carefully, and found people who loved the animal enough to create wolf sanctuaries. I spent time on a sanctuary near the town of Bakersville in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a five-hour drive from my home. When I arrived a sign read, The Wolf Sanctum. From that moment I called my novel, The Sanctum.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since the 6th grade. I remember it vividly. I wrote a story called My Dog, Joey, which my teacher, Miss Rizzo, told my mother I should be a writer because I made all the girls (and some of the boys) cry. My mother then proclaimed me a Drama Queen. I think it embarrassed her, that I did such a thing. I didn’t care. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to write. I either had my nose in a book, or pen to paper. Later, life dictated a different path. As a single mother, I had other obligations that stole the dream of writing from me.

But one day in 1997, sitting in my office where I worked at a major teaching hospital in Akron, Ohio, the Chairman of the Urology Department spied one of my short stories on my desk. He was also an author. He grabbed the story, took it home, returned to my office the next day and closed the door behind him. “Why are you working here?” he said. “This is what you should be doing.” A few years passed, but in 2003, I began writing full time. It has been my passion—the grease in my wheels that keeps me going forward in life.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I work from an outline, but that outline never holds me in check. It takes many turns throughout the process, but I do know the ending before I begin. I don’t know how much I’ve evolved as a plotter, but I do believe the longer we work at our craft, the more it morphs into who we are as writers. I am still moved by History and writing from the gut, if that makes any sense. I write what I want to read, not what is necessarily popular at the moment.

“With a clear Southern voice and a remarkable gift of storytelling, Pamela King Cable has crafted a masterful collection of short stories. In themes ranging from flea markets to coal mine strikes, Southern Fried Women speaks of the wounds, joys, and sacrifices experienced by women who held strong in the winds of adversity and emerged bruised but miraculously unbroken. Each story is as thought provoking as it is beautifully written.”

Televenge, Satya House Publications, 2012

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Cable’s unflinching fictional exposé of the dark side of televangelism has a human victim in the person of Andie Oliver. … Cable, a former member of a megachurch, places Andie’s desperate struggle against the oppression of (Reverend) Artury’s church, its brutal inner circle, murderous practices, financial fraud, and (husband) Joe’s abuse. This powerful story, skillfully written and with well-drawn characters, reveals the classic entrapment of vulnerable people in the name of a vengeful god …”

LIBRARY JOURNAL Televenge is “ … an emotional rollercoaster that ends as intensely as it begins . . . those who commit to Cable’s tome will find themselves captivated and deeply devoted to Andie. Fans of Fannie Flagg and Janet Evanovich will be hooked on this saga of religion, romance, and crime.” Library Journal Editor’s Pick BookExpo America 2012

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Thank you all for your great comments! I’m grateful for every show of love and support. I hope you fall in love with The Sanctum, as it is truly near and dear to my heart. Enjoy the read, and be sure and let me know how you liked it! http://www.pamelakingcable.com